Clarification: Just to make things clear, Ace Attorney 5 is not fully-voiced. The anime cutscenes have voice-acting, but the original wording of this post caused some to believe the the game will be fully voiced. This is not the case and we’ve edited our wording to make it clearer.

It’s been five years since the last release of a numbered Ace Attorney game.

Over the last few year’s there’s been a bit of staff shuffling, what with series creator, Shu Takumi, focusing on other projects (such as Ghost Trick) and Takeshi Yamazaki taking over for Ace Attorney Investigations.

Ace Attorney 5’s producer is Motohide Eshiro, who was also involved with Investigations and is known for his involvement in numerous other Capcom titles as well, including Okamiden, the upcoming DmC Devil May Cry and more. Working on Ace Attorney 5’s scenario is Takeshi Yamazaki, who also worked on Investigations 2 and was in charge of planning for Apollo Justice.

According to an interview in Nintendo Dream magazine, talk of Ace Attorney 5 started last autumn. Once the staff was decided upon, the four writers and the character designer lodged together for four days and three nights, for an intense brainstorming session. It was during this time that they came up with the “impactful event” for this game—the courtroom explosion seen in the trailer.

(Previous ideas included “flying courtroom” and “torture courtroom”.)

Phoenix’s return as the protagonist of the game raised some concerns, the Nintendo Dream interview reveals. Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth had never been the main playable character prior to the Investigations games, so his quirks were easy to work with. On the other hand, because Phoenix has been the main character from the start, and he is someone everyone can relate to, it took much more time to grasp his character. In addition, the team wanted to create a Phoenix that inherited his traits from Apollo Justice, but also brought back some of his “youth” from Trials and Tribulations.

As previously reported, Ace Attorney 5 also gives Phoenix a new partner—Kokone Kizuki, whose name comes from a play on words for “to notice things” and “listening to the heart or soul”. She was designed to be a heroine who actively fights alongside Phoenix, and so, is a defense attorney working under Phoenix. At first her design was extremely sci-fi-esque, traces of which can still be seen in her final design. The monitor (named “Monita”) hanging from her neck is what enables the special “Heart Scope” function in this game.

The Heart Scope was an idea that had been present since the start. Yamazaki suggested a system where one could see through the various emotions a witness goes through as he’s giving his account. These emotions would hold the key to seeing through the various preconceptions and prejudices of people dragged into such an extreme situation (a murder) that eventually appear in their testimonies.

Another topic brought up was the subject of voices, which appeared in the promotional video shown in the TGS. This will be the first time that voice actors—as opposed to the game’s developers—will be used, and they’ll primarily be in the game’s cutscenes. Previously, they only appeared in the trailers for the DS games. They will also be used for the in-game sound-effects and quotes (“Objection!!” etc).

The staff are aware that there will be much resistance to this, but say there are reasons for the change.

The primary reason for this was that, due to the 3DS’ surround sound capabilities, bringing over the DS sounds as they were would have been extremely difficult due to tuning problems.

Furthermore, the game has anime cutscenes now, so Capcom wanted the voice-acting to go hand-in-hand with this aspect of the game. Note, however, that the game is not fully voiced.

Finally, the subject of returning characters is brought up. These were carefully selected by Eshiro, who says he considered characters that were not only very popular but also those who would fit into the story of Ace Attorney 5 without feeling awkward or forced.

Well if she’s too stupid to kill anyone having a problem with me including people I care then no, I rather deal with my problems on my own like a real man is supposed to! My world don’t turn around a woman so screw them, I want a normal chick with normal jealously level, with a personal goal on her mind and a disposition to back me up when needed so I’ll back her up when needed in change too, that’s teamwork for me!

Mrgrgr and Unacceptable World

Thats why we need the control power there.^_^ I mean the reason why Yukiteru had such a hard time with Yuno is easily because at first, he never love her there.
But if he actually loves her and shower her with the affection there, she will be much more obedient there.^_^

I’m pretty happy with everything about this game so far. Excited to hear that there will be returning characters, here is hoping to see a full grown Maya. Hopefully, we will get a trailer and a release date soon.

Areuto

ok but I’d rather prefer keeping how phoenix was during the original ace attorney

Levin_Scorpius

Wendy Oldbag is the only character who needs to return and nothing anyone says will make me believe otherwise.

Great to hear about the voices, the DS trailers and TGS promotion were always a big tease since they were all fully voiced but not the games, and back then it was mostly due to hardware limitation. Also relieved that they’re not using the voices from the live action actors at all, unlike MvC3 Ultimate or Phoenix x Layton, so this is more like a main number 5 instead of spinoffs, otherwise I would prefer no voices as I find them very jarring..

I didn’t like Apollo so much, Investigations 1 good but the last chapter stalled a bit, but 2 was very good. Would pre-order 5 as soon as they have a release date :) Hooray for voices and Phoenix’s comeback, two things I wanted for the 5th game :)

Ethan_Twain

Well. How about that. I like the sounds of this, but I’m willing to bet a lot of people won’t. This is a game that’s changing things. Graphics? Full 3D. Dialogue? Voiced. Sidekick? Brand new. The emotion detector thing is a new courtroom gimmick that’s somewhat reminiscent of the not so great twitch detection in Apollo Justice.

Any one of these changes could end up getting messed up. Bad voices, frustrating and unclear emotion segments, animations that lose their charm, an annoying sidekick. But you’ve gotta risk getting things wrong sometimes, and Ace Attorney hasn’t taken enough risks. I wish that they had been a little bit more progressive with past installments so that this game didn’t bear the burden of so many new things getting introduced all at once, but at this point it’s necessary. All we can hope is that Capcom gets more parts right than they get wrong, and that the game sells well enough to justify a sequel to iron out whatever wrinkles do arise.

Aoshi00

I don’t think the changes are that drastic.. The trilogy was ported from GBA, so no voices, but in the DS trailers the chars were always fully voiced, so it’s nice the first 3DS game finally has more voices being on a more powerful system. Also Apollo Justice did introduce some 3D environment. Gyakuten 5 would have both 3D models & 2D illustration just like Professor Layton & the Miracle Mask (the 3D models look really good and close to the drawings). They always have different sidekicks right, Phoenix had Maya, Apollo had Trucy, and Edgeworth had Kay, wonder what Kokone’s Eng name later would be.. If 3D is done right, it’s really not bad at all like Robotics;Notes.

Mrgrgr and Unacceptable World

It is a nice that Capcom is having a blast there making PW 5. Hope that they will be able to do well there as till now, i have seen nothing bad on this game.^_^

thundergodCN

Thus the age old question of “What is the difference between a ladder and a step ladder”

“Fit into the story without feeling awkward or forced” is just code for “spamming Wendy Oldbag and Larry Buttz and nobody else”.
I hope they don’t rely too much on cameos, because that’s what ruined AAI for me. I love the series, but it’s got a problem with flanderization.

Göran Isacson

God I hope you are wrong. Like, don’t get me wrong, I love me some Oldbag, but a cameo that actualy DEVELOPS a character from older games and shows how they’ve aged instead of just trotting out an old, tired and very beaten horse (DOHOHOHO REFERENCE TO OLDBAG) is fine too, developers. It really, really is.

God I hope they at least give a token nod to Maya, Pearl and Gumshoe ;_;

Yeah seriously. I really really liked Gumshoe, but in AAI all of his lines were used to highlight either his incompetence or his consequential poorness. AAI generally left a bad taste in my mouth because it seemed like they’ve run out of ideas so they just went with the stuff they knew people chuckled at once or twice before. By all means, don’t ditch old characters! But if they make up half of the entire cast and steal the spotlight from new characters while being annoying, something’s not right.

I just got into this series, never played them before. I started with the original Ace Attorney and beaten it, I love the game. Now, I’m playing Apollo Justice because I don’t have the other two game as they’re rare and expensive. I don’t really like the 3D model, I wish they used hand-drawn instead but whatever. Can’t wait to scream Objection!!!

Souji Tendou

I still don’t like the fact that they picked a new partner for Phoenix. Heh Japan, you and your standard bishoujo sidekick.

Trotmeister

Well, Maya couldn’t be Phoenix’s sidekick forever, she’s got village to run. Plus, it makes sense that a veteran attorney like Phoenix would have a protege.

I hope Maya will still make an appearance in this game. I always love to see her and Nick together XD

Airidas K

Emotion System…. . Going L.A Noire I see…
Voiced characters…. Finally, but I guess we don’t get option to switch to original japanese dub

Ridho Siregar

Ooh that final subject.. Maya, dude, Maya. *v*

wahyudil

I hope there are dual voice system … although Phoenix Wright in Japan is called Naruhodo Ryuichi …

Gaisaph

This is my opinion but I honestly think Kay was annoying in AAI. I really hope this character isn’t as annoying as her. We’ll see. I really hope they won’t bring characters that has been brought back but no one really care about.(Sorry Hotti, Wendy and a few others.) I know Ema and Maggey was in AAI but it wasn’t anything special since they wasn’t a big part much. I wonder if Ema is gonna be the detective for GS5 or would Gumshoe comes in? Anyway as for Payne’s brother being the prosecutor… I don’t know but I don’t like him. But he might be cool like the rest of the older prosecutor or there’ll be another prosecutor for the final case.

Göran Isacson

I’m just gonna add my name to the pile of people wishing for Maya, Pearl and Edgeworth to at least make a cameo. It doesn’t have to be big roles: just have them make an appearance in one chapter so we can hear their side of the story, find out how they reacted to Phoenix’s downfall and subsequent rise back to lawyer-dom and what they’ve been up to lately and I’ll be a happy camper.

From where I’m standing, you gotta respect a franchises history, even if continuity can be a snarling tangled beast of a web that may feel constricting. New characters and partners are fine, but throwing out old developments and acting like everything is business as usual after so long is not the way to go if you want to keep your audience coming back. Fortunately, the fact that they don’t seem to be ignoring the developments in Appollo Justice gives me a small boost of confidence. It sounds like they’re really trying to weave together as many threads as they’re capable of, and if they pull that off I will gladly stomach a gameplay gimmick that I can’t really get a good grasp on and voice actors who potentially clash with my own head-canon. Just… get the story right. That’s all I wish for.

XiaomuArisu

One word:
Awesome!
…nuff said.

Zonic505

Why did I think of Franziska von Karma when I read “torture courtoom”, as if it’d be her “home” court?

This “combination” of different Wrights sounds rather interesting. Looking forward to hearing the voice acting.

Speedo Redempteur

flying courtroom ?

now that would have been something intresting to see

Izzy Miyake

Me wants some Ema Skye and Maya in my PW5 ><

Oh and Pearly too, throw in older Edgeworth/Franziska for good measure